Weblogistan versus Ahmadinejad

Iran's hardline new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues to make headlines with his increasingly outrageous statement, most recently that the Holocaust was no more than "a myth".

At the same time, the issue of the nuclear ambitions of Iran is high on the international agenda. There has recently been a resumption of low-level contacts between Teheran and the European Union to see if there is any possibility of resuming negotiations over the issue.

In Iran itself, the fast expansion of "Weblogistan" is an increasingly important development. It is estimated that there are already mjore than 100 000 weblogs in the country. As Western music is banned, the Internet and Weblogistan is expanding veryt fast.

Farsi is the 28th most spoken language in the world, but according to the linked report might be well on its way towards replacing French as the 2nd most common language in the blogosphere.

Sooner or later, there is change coming to Persia.

Opinion - Ben Macintyre Times Online